“Someday we’ll have houses of our own,” Skylar says, “and we’ll have matching red couches like that one. When we visit each other, we’ll sit on them and remember things we did when we were kids.”

It’s hard to imagine having a house of my own, but I go along with Skylar and the red sofas.

Next we stop at Victoria’s Secret and look at the sexy underwear. “Which bra would you buy?” Skylar asks.

I choose a shocking pink one made of see-through lace, and Skylar picks the same one in black. They both have push-up cups. We whoop with laughter, trying to imagine ourselves parading around in the bras and matching thongs.

Still laughing, Skylar says, “Remember when we dressed up in Mom’s sexy date outfits and took pictures?”

I lean against the store window, hiccupping with giggles. “I’ve still got those photos on my phone.”

“Get rid of them!” Skylar says.

“No way. I plan to blackmail you with them.”

Just as we’re calming down, my art teacher walks out of the shop carrying a Victoria’s Secret bag along with an even bigger Macy’s bag. Ms. Sullivan is my favorite teacher after Mr. Boyce. She’s young and pretty and just started this year. She’s had a hard time with rowdy kids in some of her classes, but not ours. We all want good grades, even in art, which is only half a credit.

Even though I’m glad to see Ms. Sullivan, it’s kind of weird to catch her coming out of Victoria’s Secret. She’s my teacher. I don’t want to know she wears lacy bras or sexy lingerie. Isn’t that why the store has Secret in its name? Like nobody should know what’s under your clothes?

When I say hello, she looks at me like I’m a stranger. Maybe she’s embarrassed too.

“It’s me, Abbi.”

She smiles and juggles her bags to give me a one-armed hug. “Abbi, I’m so sorry. I was lost in thought,” she says. “How are you? How’s your summer going?”

“Okay,” I say. “Kind of boring and hot, though.”

“The end-of-summer blues. Teachers get them, too, you know.” She smiles again, but she seems kind of flustered. She probably wishes she’d met me at Macy’s instead of here.

“Are you keeping up with your drawing?” she asks.

“Not as much as I should, but I’m really looking forward to art when school starts.”

“And I’m looking forward to teaching you!” She glances at Skylar, who is standing there waiting for me to introduce her.